How much does a development associate earn?

A development associate earns $71,000 a year, on average ($34.34 an hour). Development associates just starting out can expect to make around $44,000 a year, while a senior development associate with ten or more years of experience can average $114,000 a year.

What is the role of an associate?

The role of an associate can be almost anything. Associate, as a title, is difficult to understand without the context of the individual position. Associate as a term attached to the title of a position typically denotes low seniority or rank. There are, however, industries wherein associate may be a position unto itself.

How To Become A Development Associate: What It Is and Career Path

What is a development associate and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

A development associate assists in raising funds for a company by organizing fundraising activities. Your job as a development associate includes meeting with potential donors, working to acquire new donors, and keeping regular contact with donors. Also, you are to assist with the creation of guest lists and mail flyers to donors to inform them of activities and events. You will also be required to coordinate marketing on social media such as Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. Performing administrative duties such as maintaining a filing system, data entry, and troubleshooting database issues are also among the things you will need to do as a development associate.

To fit in this role, you need to be able to work late nights, weekends, and holidays. You must also have either a high school diploma or bachelor's degree depending on the employer. You also need to have great organizational skills and a passion for helping others. A development associate makes an average yearly salary of $71,629 or $34.44 per hour.

ScoreDevelopment AssociateUS Average

Salary

5.5

Avg. Salary $70,451

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

5.5

Growth Rate 8%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.51%

Asian 6.43%

Black or African American 10.90%

Hispanic or Latino 16.00%

Unknown 6.54%

White 59.61%

Gender

female 64.49%

male 35.51%

Age - 44

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 44

Stress Level

5.5

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

8.0

Complexity Level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

6.0

Work Life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

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Key steps to become a development associate

Explore development associate education requirements

Most common development associate degrees

Bachelor's

76.6 %

Master's

14.0 %

Associate

5.5 %

Start to develop specific development associate skills

Skills	Percentages
Customer Service	7.25%
Java	7.04%
PowerPoint	6.43%
Project Management	5.03%
Professional Development	4.44%

Complete relevant development associate training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New development associates learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a development associate based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real development associate resumes.

Research development associate duties and responsibilities

Edit and manage attorney biographies.
Manage database and daily schedule though use of SalesForce.
Manage all aspects of donor prospecting, cultivation, stewardship, and budget/vendor/consultant management for special events and individual giving.
Certify in CPR and first aid.

Prepare your development associate resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your development associate resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a development associate resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

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